Twins A and B blog about motherhood, food and more!
Nov 10th, 2009 by Kate
The memorial service for Maryellen “Tracy” Forte will be held at 10:30 AM on Thursday, November 12th at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Herndon (1090 Sterling Road, Herndon, Virginia 20170).
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Tracy’s name to the Association for Frontotemporal Dementias (AFTD). More information about donations can be found on their website: http://www.ftd-picks.org/
Jun 2nd, 2009 by Kate
For those of you who are not on Facebook, I wanted to to announce that Elizabeth (Ellie) Patricia Stroiney was born yesterday at 10:35 am. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long – much bigger than I expected! Ellie is healthy and of course adorable and has a full head of dark brown hair! But she looks much more like me than Jim this time. She is doing great and I am recovering well (the second C-section is MUCH easier since I was not in labor for 16 hours first).
For the last few years, Jamie has been asking if he can go to Legoland in California for his 6th birthday (which is in September). We agreed, but told him it would be his only birthday present — no party, gifts, etc. to which he happily said yes. But then I realized we’d have a newborn in September and just the thought of taking THREE kids across the country for 5+ hours on a plane sent me into convulsions! So we decided to take the trip when the baby was still snuggly ensconsed in my belly and a lot less work! 
We left early on Saturday morning on a flight out of Dulles on Virgin America. It was the first time we had flown on Virgin and I have to say, it was a lovely experience. The leather seats were slightly wider than on other airlines (nice for the preggers like me!), the attendants were very friendly and best of all, they had individual TV sets for all the seats. Needless to say, the kids were very well entertained by my good friend Nickelodeon for almost all of the trip! James was acting a little grumpy on the plane, oddly, but we figured he was just tired because we had woken him up so early to get to the airport. By the time we landed at LAX and were in Hertz to get our rental car, though, he was begging to lay down on the floor and rest. Ugh. The kid was sick with a high fever on HIS birthday trip to Legoland!
So we drove from LA to San Diego to check into our hotel. We stopped and got a thermometer and Motrin at the store and let Jamie get some rest. I took Lauren swimming in the hotel pool while John stayed with Jamie. When we got back, it was clear our little boy wasn’t going anywhere that night so we ordered room service. Lauren thought that was a hoot! Is it just me or does EVERY single room service menu have turkey club sandwiches on the menu?! The next morning we decided to soldier on and see if Jamie was well enough to go to Legoland. We dosed him with the Motrin and headed out to the park. It is a really beautiful park — super clean, well organized, lush and bright. They have lots of rides, play areas and figures made out of Lego hidden through out the park. I think Jamie was under the impression that Legoland was a large building made entirely out of Legos and filled with every single type of Lego piece ever made. When he realized it was more of an amusement park than an all-day Lego-building extravaganza, he was a little disappointed. But we had a nice enough time going on all the rides, watching some shows and checking out the huge replicas of US cities made out of Legos. They even had a replica of my alma mater, Georgetown! It was clear, though, that Jamie still wasn’t feeling so hot and was not 100%. We gave up and headed back to the hotel (after a quick stop for BBQ on the way back).
The next day we had intentionally left free so we could decide what to do once we got to San Diego. After a little research, we decided to go to the new San Diego Wild Animal Park so that Lauren could see a real live giraffe. She has a bit of a giraffe obsession thanks to a huge stuffed giraffe that her Pap Pap gave her. She sleeps with that darned thing every single night! It was a lovely park and a gorgeous day and I think we all enjoyed the scenery. They have tried to replicate an African safari there and take people around in trams to see the giraffes, lions, rhinos, elephants, etc. They also do a lot of conservation work to try and help endangered species through out the world. Lauren started to get a little grumpy and whiny towards the end of the day and got even worse at dinner. She just whined and complained and cried for Aunt Kate to come pick her up then and there. Ha! John and I just shook our heads and laughed because she was such a mess. Good parents, that’s us! When we got her home, we realized she had the fever that Jamie had the day before and that was what was causing her to be such a PIA!
Tuesday we had planned to head back towards LA to visit Disneyland for the day. But we decided to go back and spend another day at Legoland. I just felt awful that Jamie was so sick for the first day and that he never really got to enjoy it as much as I thought he would. So we stayed in San Diego and enjoyed another day full of plastic building blocks. This time we discovered some great areas where kids could build Lego cars and race them down ramps against other kids. They also let you “check” out Lego sets and build them at the building tables. Jamie was in hog heaven, grinning and laughing the whole time. Clearly we had made the right choice to go back to Legoland!
Lauren was feeling much better and seemed to enjoy the day as well, especially the shows and the rides. Unfortunately they had just upped the age limit on a lot of the rides from 3 to 4 a few weeks before so Lauren was very disappointed she could not ride many of them. It was such a mess, tons of kids were going up to go on rides they used to be able to ride only to be told they could no longer ride them. Mayhem ensued. Since Lauren met all of the height restrictions, I decided to have her lie about her age. Yes, I said it, I taught my daughter to lie. Every woman lies about her age, right? We told her that in California the time zones were different and that there she could be 4 if she wanted and to tell them she was 4 when she was asked. He he he.
The only thing the kids did not like was the water park. I don’t get it. Last year at Dutch Wonderland they loved the water park and did not want to leave. This time they acted like I was torturing them by bringing them there. It was very amusing!
The park itself was really nice. It was definitely geared towards younger kids, best for ages 4 to 10 I would say. They had a few rides that were better for older kids, but Jamie could mostly go on everything. Poor John was stuck going on all of them with the kids since I was pregnant. But he was a good sport about it all! The park staff was so friendly. One of them even sang Happy Birthday to James!
That night we drove back to LA and stayed at a hotel near the airport. The flight home was exhausting because the TV sets on Virgin were broken and there were no kids shows to watch. Ugh. We had not brought too much to entertain them since we’d planned on them watching TV the whole time. Oh well.
All in all, it was a good trip and a nice way to spend some time just the 4 of us before the new baby comes. The kids kept asking to kiss my belly all day long which was sweet. I think they are excited about the new baby. Or at least about having someone younger than them to boss around all the time!
Some pictures:
Flying with Daddy
Checking out the Legos in Miniland
Georgetown University out of Lego!
Building at the Bionicle Center
Me and the Kiddos
Petting a Deer at the Animal Park
Ready for Lunch!
A Giraffe Named Pamona
Happy Brother and Sister
Loved the restroom signs…
May 20th, 2009 by Leslie
Just wanted to share a few recent bentos…
Lion Bento
Lion bento with green beans, goldfish, pineapple and strawberry kebabs, bugles (remember those from when we were kids? I got them free at the store…), a banana cookie and an organic fruit roll up. The lion is a cream cheese and jelly sandwich topped with more cream chese and then chow mein noodles for the mane. The rest of his face is made with black olives and strawberries.
Piglet Mouse Bento
I don’t actually know what this creature is supposed to be. Jamie and I made it together and we just made it up! Someone on Flickr suggested a mouse lion. Who knows! Clockwise from top left: Here he has an apple, an organic fruit roll up, some pear chips, mini graham cookies, peach yogurt drops and then Amy’s organic mac and cheese topped with a ham, cheese and red pepper something-or-other!
Teacher Appreciation Bentos
Jamie’s school has Teacher Appreciation week this week so I decided to make his 2 teachers their own bento lunches (since they always comment on Jamie’s lunches). Sadly I had a busy weekend and didn’t get to do anything as fancy as I had envisioned in my mind. But they seemed to like these anyway! They have turkey sandwiches topped with meat/cheese “teachers” that match their hair color, honey wheat pretzel sticks (in a baggie under the letters so they don’t get soggy), cookie letters spelling out their last names, mixed fruit salad of blackberries, grapes and raspberries, some red pepper stars (the theme of the week was “teachers are rock stars”) with ranch dressing and then sesame noodles. I also sent in some star shaped cheesecake brownies on the side.
Sydney turned 18 months yesterday (a good way to celebrate Earth Day I think)! I just can’t believe I have a one and a half-year old child. I just had her. Seriously. It was weeks ago, wasn’t it?
One week old
My how she has changed in the time since we brought her home. She started life as a sleepy “mini-me” clone of Jim who screetched like a very unhappy bird (hence her nickname Chickies). She has blossomed into a very happy, very active toddler who is starting to look more like her Momma every day (a little more sun this summer and she might just be blonde)! She is learning SO much these days and is into investigating everything. She has become extremely curious about the world around her and is just an all-around loveable, happy girl. Ever since we moved her to a new school, her language has exploded (even sign-language – they use it at school and for a while Jim and I didn’t know some of the signs she was using and had to go look them up!). She has even started to talk in full sentences already…while it is cute 99% of the time, her favorite phrase is “I want it”. Which she says about pretty much anything she knows she cannot have!
Not a baby anymore...
She had her 18-month check up last night. She weighs 25 pounds and is 33 ½ inches tall. (That translates into the 75% for weight, 70% for height and 65% for head size for those of you keeping score at home.) The doctor pronounced her healthy and developing great. And then the nurse gave her two shots which *really* ticked her off!
Of course she does not understand that we are about to dramatically change her life with the arrival of her sibling in June. She sorta gets that there is a baby growing inside Momma, but that is all. If you ask her where the baby is she lifts up my shirt and points to my expanding waistline. But then of course she walks over to Daddy and checks to see if there is a baby up his shirt too! I am trying to enjoy these last days of her being an only child – I know things will be different when the new baby arrives. But no matter what, she is always going to be my *first* baby!
Eating Peeps with my Mom for Easter breakfast - yum!
Apr 22nd, 2009 by Leslie
In honor of Earth day today, I made this bento for Jamie last night. His school is doing a lot to promote Earth Day and Jamie’s special interest is in stopping people from littering. I found a great book at a yard sale this weekend about Litterbugs and he’s been reading it over and over since then. He wants to convert all the Litterbugs into “Neatos” and help keep the earth clean. If only we could get him to keep his Legos picked up!
Anyway, HAPPY EARTH DAY!
From top left: green beans, red pepper, RECYCLE in cheese letters on top of an organic pop tart, black olives, raisins, oranges and grapes and a cheese recycle symbol on top of nori (under that is a PB sandwich).
Apr 19th, 2009 by Leslie
So yeah. It’s been a while since I posted to this blog. Life seems to get in the way of my better laid plans! We’ve had one heck of a few months — I was sick for an entire week (I’ve never been sicker in my life), John was hospitalized twice since January (once for a reaction to some medication and once for a strep throat infection that led to emergency throat surgery and 8 days in the hospital), Lauren turned 3 (and entered the Terrible Two’s one year too late), we’ve been dealing with Mom’s health issues and her stay in the hospital in February and finally the huge project I am managing at work is almost ready for launch and sucking up all my free time. Oh, and I am pregnant. No wonder I just want to run away to Mexico and lounge on the beach with a fruity drink.
But life seems to be calming down (at least for now, we all know it will change in August!). As I type this, Baby Tant #3 is happily kicking me in the stomach and making his/her presence known. For the record, I think this kiddo is a boy. The women in our family don’t usually like to find out what we are having so I will be waiting until August. I will say, it is HARD this time around, simply because I want to prepare clothes and rooms now. Plus I have one of each already, I really don’t care whether we have a boy or girl. I really really just want a healthy baby! So we shall see!
At any rate, I just pulled pics off my camera and thought I’d post some of the bentos and food fun things I have made in the past month or two. I don’t make fancy lunches all that often since things have been so crazy, but I do still make them when I have time. Descriptions of what is in each one are available if you click on the picture and go the Flickr page. Enjoy!
Lego Bento
Lauren’s Valentine’s Day Bento
Jamie’s Valentine’s Day Bento
Mouse Bento
Breakfast for Lunch Bento
Pizza Bagel Bento
St. Patrick’s Day Bento
Octopus Bento
Owl Bento
Kitty Cat Bento
April Fool’s Dinner - I tried to trick the kids but it did not work on James. This is ice cream with caramel, orange candy slices, PB nuggets and strawberry sauce.
Groundhog’s Day Cupcakes
Fatty Dog’s Birthday Cake – And yes, I make my dogs birthday cakes. They were my “kiddos” before James and Lauren and I love them more than words. This is Fatty’s 7th birthday cake. Wow, time flies!
Fatty Enjoying His Cake
Apr 17th, 2009 by Kate
Well, hello there. Long time no write. Sorry about that. Life’s been kinda in the way of blogging.
But it hasn’t gotten in the way of important life events like first haircuts! I finally got around to getting Sydney’s hair cut when her Uncle David came down to visit last month. Anyone who has seen her knows that she is a kid with *crazy* hair! When she was a little baby there was a section that would stick straight up no matter what I tried (blow drying, gel, you name it!):
Although it no longer sticks up in the air, Sydney’s hair is very straight and fine and messy and just hangs in her face all the time. I put off cutting her hair for the first year since so many people told me it was bad luck to cut it before she was one. And then I realized that I don’t really want her to have bangs since they would probably hang flat in her face too. So, I am letting her hair grow in all one length – we’ll see how that looks. In the meantime, her scraggly hair was driving Jim (and her daycare provider!) crazy, so when Uncle David came down to visit, we went to Cartoon Cuts for her first haircut.
I had heard horror stories about kids who screamed and cried through their first haircuts, so I was a bit nervous. Turns out I had nothing to fear – she didn’t complain at all. She kinda stared at me and the lady cutting her hair, wondering what the heck we were doing. But she just sat there patiently and watched herself in the mirror (uh oh…)!
Of course the candy that the stylist offered her didn’t hurt…
In the end it didn’t look much different, but at least it was neater in the back. And Sydney got to try out her first lollipop!
Mar 9th, 2009 by Kate
Hi All,
Sorry things have been a bit quiet here. Life has been busy to say the least. But I promise a few posts soon (including some pictures from Sydney’s first haircut!). I did want to quickly post this message we got last night from our Dad. As some of you may know from Facebook, our mother was in the hospital last week. Thankfully she is doing much better now. Details and a status update below!
Hi Gang,
Tracy was admitted to Memorial hospital here in Cumberland last
Thursday evening about 11:00 pm. She was vomiting blood and had some
respiratory distress. She was quickly stabilized and sent to the High
Care Unit (a step down from the ICU) and over a period of 5 days was
diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer in her upper GI track, a serious
Urinary Track Infection and a Gall Stone (imagine the gall), sorry.
The good news is that she was discharged on Tuesday the 3rd with all
issues under control. She has recovered very quickly and was back at
day care on Thursday. I’ve asked 5 doctors and none can give me a
reason for the ulcer. Physical stress, bacterial infection and acid
reflux are all possibilities. I have my own theories including that
putting up with me for almost 40 years could give anyone an ulcer!
Every thing is under control. Tracy is taking Protonix for the ulcer
and was given antibiotics for the infection and we were told not to be
concerned about the gall stone as it poses no threat at this time.
So it appears that she has dodged a bullet. I need to be a little
more vigilant since she can’t tell me if she hurts or where it hurts.
Kudos to the staff at the emergency room and the High care Unit, they
were magnificent and treated Tracy with the utmost care and respect.
As a side bar we knew all of the ambulance crew that came to the house
and thanks to scanners this incident was known all over Oldtown.
Quite a few folks have called and offered their sympathy and prayers.
I guess that living in the “boonies” has some benefits.
So all is well for the time being, Tracy is under the care of some
great doctors and is getting back to normal quickly.
Thanks for your concern
Larry
I took Sydney to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner last night. She “helped” me with the bags as usual and as I was putting things in the car I noticed she had pulled out a bag of roma tomatoes and was trying to eat them through the plastic. I laughed and pulled one out and gave it to her thinking she wouldn’t be interested in it once it was out of the bag.
I was wrong. She took it and ate it like it was a cookie – all the way home! Of course her coat and carseat were a drippy tomato mess, but she loved it. I had to snap a few pix:
